Whitby and Scarborough Lib Dem councillors win the day

Whitby councillor Rob Broadley, and his Lib Dem Colleague Brian Simpson managed to convince SBC to adopt their motion to oppose the government's introduction of compulsory identity cards. Brian, who put the motion to the council said, "We Scarborough Borough Council are opposed to the introduction of National Identity Cards by the government on the grounds that the estimated costs of £22 billion and rising would be better spent on more useful and targeted policing in our local communities in the form of extra police. We also believe that a proportion of the proposed funding should be spent on strengthening Safer Communities Teams like our own, giving them real power and strengthening the fight against anti-social behaviour." This was seconded by Rob, who said "It is not just about introducing ID cards, but also the creation of a National Identity Register where every individual's details would be stored on a massive data base. Knowing full well the goverment's record of failed data bases at huge cost to the taxpayer, the Government has not made a case.There is no evidence the system will produce the stated benefits. Less liberty does not imply greater security. ID does not establish intention of terrorism, and in no instance has the presence of an identity card system been shown a significant deterrent to terrorist activity. Indeed, experts attest that ID unjustifiably presumed secure actually diminishes security." The motion was passed by a large majority, and the council agreed to write to the Home Office registering its opposition. To find out more about this, click on the No2ID website , where the motion has been referred to and welcomed by that organisation in issue number 66.